Sachi and I did our annual hatsumode (New Year’s shrine-going) yesterday. Nice weather, though a bit cold. I may have pointed out before, Hie Shrine, in the heart of Tokyo near Akasaka, is the only shrine I know with a set of escalators.

Once you get in, there’s the usual line of people waiting to get to the front to pray.

Once you get there, you throw a coin into the box at the front, yank the red and white ribbons (sometimes a rope) to rind the bell, clap your hands twice, then pray.

Here’s a sound file to get an idea of what things sound like in line:

This is the big money season for the shrines; they get most of their funds at this time. Some shrines are so crowded that people don’t get much of a chance to get to the front, so some people actually throw the money from a distance and then pray. These bigger shrines will actually lay sheets over a large area in front to catch the thrown money. But for most shrines, it’s a special box, which is there year-round, which catches the money–usually via slats, so no dishonest visitors can make a withdrawal instead of a deposit.

The idea behind the bells and the clapping is to attract the attention of the kami you wish to pray to.

Out with the old, in with the new: hand in your old good-luck arrows and charms at the stand (though I prefer the bonfire myself), then buy a new set for the new year. I was a bit irked that the person who sold us the charms this year gave me the wrong one–I wanted a sticker for my scooter, they gave me something else instead–didn’t notice till we got home. You can also buy omikuji, or fortunes: for a hundred yen (about a dollar), you shake a wooden cylinder with a number of sticks in it; one stick falls out a small hole in the bottom, indicating which fortune you get. You can then tie the fortune to a wall to see it come true.

And then there’s the food: all sorts of stalls, many of the usual sort–takoyaki, okonomiyaki, sweet crepes, and so on. The frankfurters–foot-long dogs on sticks–look good, but are universally tasteless, so you’re better off slathering it with the ketchup and hot mustard if you must get one. Hie Shrine has a good selection of stalls, though–this year they had great fried chicken, a good kebab stand, and tasty “baby castella,” little round pellet cakes cooked fresh on the spot.

To finish off, here are a few shots of one of the shrine maidens, doing her annual “I am the goddess of the discarded good luck arrows” dance or something.